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Syracuse coach Scott Shafer hopes officials err on the side of caution when ejecting players

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Syracuse coach Scott Shafer said Monday a new college football rule that would automatically eject players for leading with the crown of their helmet or initiating contact above the shoulders with a defenseless player is good for the sport in the long run. However, he thinks officials should err on the side of caution on close plays before deciding to eject a player.
(AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Greensboro, N.C. --- Scott Shafer was a quarterback who grew up in Ohio, where the football is epitomized by a smash-mouth, grind-it-out style.

One might even call it, to borrow a favorite in Shafer's vernacular, hard-nosed.

"For anybody who has played the game," Shafer said, "they know that part of the game is pain and getting through pain, and there's a big difference between discomfort and pain and injury."

The violence and physicality of the sport is one reason it has stitched itself into the fabric of this country. Why else is South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney's hit against Michigan turned into a GIF?

A violation carries a 15-yard penalty and automatic ejection. If the ejection occurs in the second half, the player must also sit out the first half of the following game. The ejection is subject to review and can be overturned if there's indisputable video evidence, but the penalty remains.

Mike Pereira, the former vice president of officiating in the NFL, tweeted late Monday night that the new rule is "going to create big problems."

It is great being back. Going to the Big 10 media days on Wednesday. New penalty(ejection) for targeting is going to create big problems.

On Monday, I took a look at the hit Shamarko Thomas delivered on Pittsburgh tight end J.P. Holtz last season, and it appears Thomas would've been ejected even though he was knocked unconscious from it.

And I just briefly went through the YouTube highlights of linebacker Dyshawn Davis from last year, and his hit on Connecticut quarterback Chandler Whitmer in the video below leaves little room for interpretation.

If Davis, one of Syracuse's best returning players, deals a similar blow in 2013, he's out of the game.

"It's gonna be tough to call. It really is," Shafer said Monday. "If in doubt I hope that they'll be errant on the side of giving the kid an opportunity not to get ejected. But in the same breath, they have a tough job. They're no different than a quarterback getting blitzed by two linebackers coming free. They got a split second to make a decision and then it's over, and it can affect the outcome of the game."

Shafer said the rule is good for the sport in the long run. A defensive coordinator the last four years, the first-year coach's heart still lies with defense, which will be impacted the most by the new rule.

Unlike the NFL, college running backs are allowed to lower their head to initiate contact.

"That's where the game is," Shafer said. "It is what it is."

"The tough one is gonna be the running back is coming down on you and the safety is coming down on him and they start to lower their bodies and all of a sudden their helmets are next to each other, but those will be some judgment calls.

"As long as our head's up and our eyes are to the sky, I think we're protecting the best interest of the player."